Submissions

2012 Winners

Grand Jury AwardIrvine Welsh's EcstasyDirected By Rob Heydon
Ecstasy is a romantic comedy, a transformational love story from the love of ecstasy to the ecstasy of Love.

Special Jury AwardMenschenliebeDirected By Alexander Tuschinski
Arnold Richter studies physics, loves opera and writes novels. Not exactly the hobbies most women find attractive! Time for a change: Somehow, it has to be possible to learn how to seduce any woman within a few days. Just like 'Don Giovanni' does in Mozart's opera! Luckily, he finds an experienced teacher soon, and with each successful seduction, more and more 'Don Giovanni' elements sneak into his world...

Special Jury AwardViti (Fiji)Directed By Dustin Bancroft
Alice and Edmond, two 1840s missionaries are sent to Fiji to convert the cannibal natives to Christianity. But first they must convert the King. Will they sacrifice their lives to save others souls?

Special Jury AwardStringsDirected By Mark Dennis and Ben Foster
In the wake of his daughter's death, a troubled musician seeks out an experimental therapist to turn his life around. When the therapist calls for him to leave everything behind and take on a new identity, the musician realizes his new life isn't what it seems and his therapist is using patients to commit vigilante crimes.

Jury PrizeVolunteerDirected By Mariah Wilson
A filmmaker and travel enthusiast embarks on a global volunteering adventure that takes her from the coral reefs of Fiji to a wildlife sanctuary in Uganda. Follow her journey and see how for the price of a plane ticket you can help affect global change.

Jury PrizeMarathon BoyDirected By Gemma Atwal
Marathon Boy is the story of Budhia Singh, the youngest marathon runner ever. At 4, he is plucked from the poverty of an Indian slum by his coach. Extraordinary drama and tragedy ensue. What starts as a simple inspirational story - the hope of a small boy and his trainer who unite to pursue a dream in a ruthless world - goes on to reveal the darker side of humanity and the complexities of Indian society as it struggles to come to grips with the realities of the slums, slum gangs and crime, and state-sanctioned corruption.

Jury Prize40 WestDirected By Dana Packard
Maeve a Blues singer, is trapped in a motel room in Texas with two criminals, both recently released from prison. Each man seeks absolution for wrongs he has perpetrated against Maeve by punishing the other on her behalf. The situation is complicated further when the mistress of one of the criminals arrives, with her crime boss husband Bud Sankey (Wayne Newton) hot on her trail.

Best Feature FilmA Little Bit ZombieDirected By Casey Walker
Infected with a virus during his bachelor party, a mild mannered Human Resources manager attempts to fulfill his overwhelming desire for brains and avoid Max, the obsessed Zombie Hunter hot on his trail, all while trying to keep it together so as not to incur the wrath of his bridezilla-to-be.

Best of HawaiiGo for Broke! Memories of Hawai'ian Japanese'Niseis'Directed By Hiroyuki Matsumoto
In Japan, the hardship of the emigrant of the first generation is known. However, the heard ship in the different style of the Nisei is not known. Of course they are American, but they are a specific generation. This is a memory of the Niseis who grow up in Hawaii and watched the 20th century of Hawaii.

Best Animation8 Second DanceDirected By Trey Moya and Howard Cook
Meet Bart Tyler, a cocky up-and-comer in the dangerous sport of professional bull riding. Live the passion and drama, as a documentary film crew records Bart's struggle to escape his father's looming shadow, the infamous Bill 'The Buzzerbeater' Tyler, and become the champion he was meant to be..

Best BiographyRandy Parsons: American LuthierDirected By David Aldrich
'Randy Parsons: American Luthier' is a documentary short about a Seattle guitar-maker whose client list includes Jack White, Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, and many other well-known guitarists. Here is a short biographical film that inspires viewers to do what they love in life and work -- even if that may require taking a second look at your dreams and finding a different way to be a rock star.

Best ComedyHi HoneyDirected By Peter A. M. Henderson
When Julia turns forty, she looks for her present from Bill and finding nothing, she reflects on a romantic life of waiting and asking permission for what she needs. Knowing that they are not just man's best friend, she goes out and adopts a stray dog from the pound and starts again.

Best Coming of AgeThe Green RushDirected By Jason Edwards
This sympathetic documentary looks at the issues confronting one group of Northern California pot growers and articulates the frustrations they face in a unique business that many regard as the most practical way to feed their families. For decades, outlaw marijuana cultivation has been a huge 'hidden' industry fueling much of the region's economy, but pot farmers have remained subject to harassment and arrest by federal law-enforcement agencies.

Best CrimeDot Got ShotDirected By Carlos Ramos Jr. and Honey Lauren
New York detective, Dot Forman, is suffering from PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of a bullet that is lodged in her head.

Best DirectorPainting BolinasDirected By Wendy Elkin
Bolinas, California; a haunt not unlike a Steinbeck novel, is an ocean side town teetering on the edge of the Pacific serves as a living back-drop for a film about a 90 year old artist, Peter Lee Brownlee, his zany friends and a woman who wants to save his paintings from ruination.

Best Documentary FeatureItaly: Love It or Leave ItDirected By Gustav Hofer Luca Ragazzi
Two Italians need to find out they should stay or leave their hometown of Italy, like so many of their friends have. Follow these two as they take an emotional adventure.

Best Documentary ShortBirds of the RainforestDirected By Jim Denny
A survey of Hawaii's Native Forest Birds. Discover what makes them so special, their current status and challenges for survival.

Best Educational FilmThough I'm Not PerfectDirected By Stacey Sargeant
Though I'm Not Perfect exposes the physical and psychological dangers of the ballet world on young girls and the role dance teachers play in it.

Best Environmental FilmCarbon for WaterDirected By Evan Abramson Carmen Elsa Lopez Abramson
In Kenya's Western Province, most drinking water is contaminated. The wood many Kenyans use to boil this water to make it safe is increasingly valuable. Carbon For Water introduces audiences to the inspiring people who face these hardships, and explores one company's innovative solution for improving the health of millions of Kenyans and the environment in which they live.

Best Family FilmGiant Monsters Attack Hawaii!Directed By Dane Neves
Hawaii's answer to one of Hollywood's most distinguished film concepts with a family friendly twist: it is told through the point of view of an unqualified giant monster on rampage in Waikiki.

Best Foreign FilmTokyo Playboy ClubDirected By Yosuke Okuda
A new 'Battle without Honor and Humanity' is born! Nao Omori and Asami Usuda star in 'Tokyo Playboy Club', the debut film from 24 year old Yosuke Okuda, an edgy action driven rookie director. It's a story of the Tokyo underworld delineated by irresistible imagery, a sense of rhythm and violence, all tinged with humor.

Best Historical Film7 Years Underground: A 60's TaleDirected By Jason M. Solomon
In 1964, co-club owners, Howard and Elly Solomon were finally granted "unique" cabaret license and the Cafe Au Go Go opened its doors on February 7. Six weeks later with mounting legal bills and depleting funds the couple were quickly going out of business. With few options, Howard and Elly made a desperate, late minute attempt to keep the club open and reached out to popular comedian, Lenny Bruce. Two days into Lenny's performance he was arrested and booked for obscenity charges, alone with Howard and Elly. That historic arrest, and the international press it garnered would put the Cafe Au Go Go on the entertainment world map.

Best Independent ShortSlip CueDirected By Robin Kupferman
Slip Cue is an engaging glimpse into the electronic music industry and scene, serving as a catalyst for aspiring DJs and producers to transform a passion into a career but is it about the people or the process of what they do and how they do it?

Best Music VideoOh LuvDirected By MAGZ Magda Sztompka
The telling of a story of Love that you can find around the corner...

Best Sci-FiThe KookDirected By Nat Livingston Johnson Gregory Mitnick
Fa is a gentle and unassuming member of an eccentric religious sect in the Catskill Mountains. On the eve of her group's scheduled 'departure from Earth', Fa discovers that their alien leader, who appears to them as a hologram transmitted from a far off galaxy, is crossing signals with a man named Malcolm, who lives nearby. Fa sets out alone into the 'real world' to find Malcolm and get to the bottom of this perplexing and untimely mis-communication.

Best ScreenplayNefarious: Merchant of SoulsDirected By Benjamin Nolot
A sober look into modern-day slavery that is designed to explore sex trafficking horrific issue and uncovers the shocking truth that people are being sold in sex markets in some of the world's most 'developed' countries. Nefarious brings an array of experts from around the globe, lending their insights in a desperate attempt to find an answer to the crisis of the day.

Best Short FilmBest ManDirected By Edward Figueroa
A long time attraction for an allien doll could ruin marriage plans for Harry, unless his fiance, Angie, has the strenght to separate them.

Best Television PilotActors AnonymousDirected By Bryan Stratte
The Non-tourage, rehabilitating actors back into society using a 12 step program.

Best ThrillerFractured MindsDirected By Frank Battiston
A couple journeys into a road trip in search to save their marriage. As their problems resurface, a horrific evil creeps out from the darkness. It is now up to the couple to stay together and fight for their lives.

Best Action SportsStill By NumbersDirected By Bec Kingma
There are two constants that control the 75 year old Mavis's life, one is her domineering husband Norman, the other is her type two diabetes. When Norman blames Mavis for loosing the Lodge Presidency, the veil is finally lifted from Mavis's eyes, she sees for the first the tragic life she is bound to.

Best DramaMasqueDirected By Robert Hatch
Defying a fate of destruction and despair, a scarred and evil prizefighter, henchman, and gambler conscripts the artful skills of a gifted benefactor who proffers the hope of a mythical journey of...

Best MockumentaryRoomiesDirected By Christabel Savalas
A single mid-aged woman decides to have a roommate to cut down her high rent and expenses. Having one bad roommate experience after another, she finally uses a roommate referral service in order to find more people. Things go from bad to worse with the odd assortment of zany characters and scheming neighbors during interviews for roommate hopefuls she gets from her ads.

Best Student FilmAfter SchoolDirected By John Wakayama Carey
A Chinese American boy resents his mother after she is continuously late picking him up for school, until a confrontation alters his perspective.